The enemy of the enemy is a friend, and it has long been no secret to the Bactrian side that the Turks have been secretly linked to Southern Chu for many years. Alien enemies? It's too far away from me to cross the line, that's your business. It is obviously not a coincidence that this distant echo is happening at the same time.

Southern Chu and Northern Xia, all of which were self-reliant from the powerful feudal towns in the last years of the previous dynasty, were all raccoon dogs when it came to inheritance and morality. Those who dare to fish in troubled waters in troubled times are not ordinary people, and there is no doubt that the founding emperor of Southern Chu must be a super bull. But in response to the old saying that "you can't be rich for three generations", future generations are not very angry. Since the Wucheng period of the Xia calendar, he has only been passively beaten, watching the Xia army capture a large area of territory in Jiangbei. If it were not for the great river blocking, it is not yet known whether Guozuo would have been able to continue.

The current Emperor of Chu is only in his thirties, with the year name Chengping, and has been on the throne for 14 years. This duke has the style of a hands-off shopkeeper, and the number of days of the pilgrimage every year, including attending ceremonies such as worshipping the heavens, rarely adds up to more than a month. It is rumored that ten years ago, when Zhao Dang, the king of Ning, waved his army to capture Suizhou, and the troops went straight to Jiangxia, the important town of Chu, this prince received an urgent military report from the front, and he actually said very calmly: Hasn't it hit the national capital Changsha yet? What's the hurry?

As the old saying goes: Although Chu has three households, the death of Qin will be Chu. Yu Si is prosperous, but Chu is talented. There was such a wonderful emperor in Southern Chu, and the erosion of the government can be seen from this, which can be said to have trampled on these reputations. The government is controlled by both relatives and eunuchs, which makes the court a miasma. Wen Huanzhang, the commander who has led his troops to resist the Xia army for nearly 20 years, is a veteran who is over the age of six. If it weren't for the Great Xia army, I am afraid that he would have been sent home to hug his grandson.

Saying goes. Emaciated camels are bigger than horses. Even so, Southern Chu's national strength, financial strength, and military strength should not be underestimated. Wise and martial such as Emperor Wucheng of Great Xia. During his lifetime, he was also cautious in painting, believing that it must take two generations of efforts to extinguish Chu.

Although Wen Huanzhang is a famous general of Southern Chu. But in such a court environment, it was extremely difficult to support the Xia army and fail to cross the river to destroy the country. Under the aggressive offensive of Great Xia for decades, there has almost never been such a thing as taking the initiative to fight back. The sudden initiative of the Chu army, which has always been unscrupulous, is inevitably a big surprise, could it be just a whim to cooperate with the Turks?

In the vast desert steppe in the north, what was thought to be a war of limited scale has been deduced into a major war in which both sides have gathered and invested nearly 300,000 heavy troops. From the beginning of February of the second year of Longchang in Xia Li, Geng Chao's army fell into a siege, and the war entered a white-hot stalemate.

On the second day of the second month of February. Zeng Yingming, the general of the captivity, personally led an army of 60,000 troops out of Shuofang and attacked the Turks in the northeast. On 11 February, the forward cavalry corps raided the Turkic royal court in one fell swoop, killing more than 20,000 enemies and capturing more than 3,000 Turkic princes and nobles. Then he quickly turned around and headed south, heading for the location of the Great Tent of Soli Khan.

On 14 February, he led 20,000 elite horsemen to Xiao Gang and Guo Rui Group, which met Geng Chao, and was more than 400 miles away from Geng Chao, Dong Jian, and Li Wei Group. It was blocked by reinforcements from three Turkic cavalry teams of 10,000 people. After a day of fierce fighting, he paid the price of losing nearly 5,000 elite cavalry to get rid of the entanglement of the Turkic aid group and move closer to the Geng Chao group.

February 16. Geng Chao's subordinate and the four Turkic cavalry teams led by Suo Li personally engaged for the first time. In contrast to the inferior forces of one enemy and three enemies, the fierce battle lasted for two days and one night, and nearly half of the 15,000 elite cavalry under his command were lost. There were less than 9,000 people left, and Li Wei, the cavalry general in charge of the left flank, was killed. Geng Chao joined forces with Dong Jian, the cavalry general who was responsible for the right wing response. Alternate cover for a difficult retreat in the direction of Jingzhou in the southeast.

As Yang Zhi expected, Ling Kaiyang, the general of the Jingzhou garrison, became the biggest dark horse that the Turks had never expected. On the ninth day of the second month. Ling Kaiyang led 20,000 cavalry and 10,000 infantry troops out of Jingzhou and went all the way to the north. On 13 February, with a thunderous momentum, he quickly defeated the 30,000 Northern Yan puppet legions that encountered him head-on. On 15 February, the two Turkic cavalry teams of 10,000 men who rushed to block the attack were again routed. On February 23, Ling Kaiyang's troops successfully joined forces with the remnants of Geng Chao, who had fought hard for half a month and had only more than 4,000 people left, about 300 miles out of Jingzhou.

By the end of February, there had been a fundamental reversal in the pre-war situation of basic parity of forces between the two sides. Most of the 120,000 Turkic cavalry and 30,000 Northern Yan puppet soldiers gathered by Suoli were defeated and annihilated, and only 50,000 troops of the Turkic cavalry with real combat effectiveness remained. On the side of Great Xia, there were nearly 70,000 cavalry and 40,000 infantry troops. Not only that, the three heavy army groups under the command of Zeng Yingming, Xiao Gang and Guo Rui, Geng Chao and Ling Kaiyang respectively opened up in a zigzag formation, and successfully realized the strategic counter-encirclement of Suoli.

The two sides have fought to this stage, and if nothing else, the outcome of the war should be in no suspense.

Although Yang Zhi has always maintained a high degree of vigilance against the new emperor Zhao Qi in his heart, he will definitely not be ambiguous in the major festivals related to the Chinese dynasty and the national fortunes of Great Xia. Since the start of the war in November last year, he has not only closely followed the battle in front of him every day, but has even changed his schedule for this reason. According to the usual routine inspection of the customs offices in various places, whether it is the islands off the coast of Shandong, or the myriad Yizhou, they all put it down and do not go anywhere, ******** only stay in Jinling.

In terms of the preliminary preparations for the war, Zhao Qi's kid ate the old bottom left by the first emperor. However, as soon as the war began, there was no discount on grain and straw support, unpredictable loss and replenishment, and ...... **** rewards and pensions after the war, and nothing could be lacking a lot of silver.

As the so-called soldiers and horses have not moved, grain and grass go first. Yang Zhi has a keen sense of smell, as early as when Geng Chao was instructed to ask for advice, Geng Chao just left, and Yang Zhi immediately ordered the local branch offices to prepare to escort the tax revenue of the year into Beijing in advance. The left and right are given early and late, so as not to ask the emperor for it, and everyone is relieved.

Thanks to the well-trained and powerful intelligence system and the cooperation of the all-pervasive Qin clan, even due to the relatively backward transportation and communication conditions of this era, Yang Zhi received a secret report that was only three or four days later than the real-time battle situation. Chang'an is closer to Shuofang, and it is conceivable that the emperor will only receive a battle report earlier than Yang Zhi.

On this day, Yang Zhi was reading the battle report in detail, and Xue Qingyun couldn't help but ask: "Master Hou, didn't you say that Geng Chao would die?" According to the current situation, Geng Chao not only can't die, but when he is rewarded for his meritorious deeds after the war, he is very likely to be recommended by the generals for the first merit of this battle! ”

Yang Zhi retorted without blinking his eyes: "If he is the first to be meritorious, how do you ask the emperor to reward him?" Even if Geng Chao survived, not only him, but also Shuofang coach Zeng Ying would not be very old next year. After this battle, there will be no major war on the northern border for at least ten years, where do you think the emperor can reward them? The first merit should be Ling Kaiyang, but this alternative strange person may not be willing to be rewarded. A group of middle- and lower-level generals represented by Xiao Gang and Guo Rui are the key figures in the emperor's willingness to reward and promote. Besides, so far the battle has only been fought for more than half of the war, isn't it not over yet? Xia Jun never returned to the dynasty for a day, and Geng Chao's life and death were unpredictable! ”

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PS: It's really a bit busy...... (To be continued.) )